How It All Began
by k0117416
Summary: The tale of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs and how it all began.


**_A Story about four very different people who become the very best of friends._**

**_This is the story of James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, later known as, Moony,_**

**_Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs._**

Chapter One – The First Day

It was a crisp September 1st when James Potter awoke in his bed in number 36

Rainers Way. It took James a few seconds to remember the significance of this

day. To everybody else James was just a normal eleven year old excited about

his first day at secondary school but James was no ordinary boy. James was a

wizard and it was to be his first day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and

Wizardry. Although it was assumed that James would go to Hogwarts (after all

both his parents did) it was still a relief when James saw the letter attached

to the leg of an unfamiliar owl (owls are a wizards preferred use of contact

between themselves and other wizards).

_Dear Mr Potter_

_I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of_

_Witchcraft and Wizardry._

James had reread this sentence so many times over the summer holidays that the parchment was beginning to fall apart, yet every

time he read it he expected it to say something different. Now that the day had

finally arrived when he would be going to Hogwarts James, all of a sudden, felt

nervous. What if no one liked him? What if he didn't like the school? He had

been so excited about being accepted, that he never thought that maybe he

wouldn't like it there. After all, it meant being away from his mum and dad for

a whole year. He had never been away from his parents for longer then a weekend

and even then he was only staying at his grandparent's house. James looked at

his clock on his bedside cabinet, it read 5.50am. He rolled onto his back and

faced his bedroom ceiling. All around him were posters of his favourite

Quidditch team, Puddlemere United. Pictures of the players zoomed around inside

their posters on their broomsticks, waving and winking at James as they flew by.

He must have stayed like that for over an hour because the next time he looked

at the clock it read 7.00am.

James decided to get up and get washed and dressed for the day. Once dressed,

he walked over to the mirror on the wall and stared at his reflection. He was

thin and quite small for his age with untidy dark hair that stuck up at the back

no matter whathe did to it. He had a thin face too with hazel eyes on which

he wore a pair of glasses. "Well I suppose that'll do" he muttered to himself.

"You look fine dear" said the mirror as he walked out of his bedroom and into

the hall. James walked slowly down the stairs and into the kitchen. There he

found his father sitting at the table, in his jet black suit reading the Daily

Prophet and his mother cooking breakfast while listing to the wireless. This

rather familiar sight comforted James. James's father worked at the Ministry of

Magic in the Magical Law Enforcement department. He was also a member of the

Wizengamot and a highly respected member of the wizarding community. James was

very proud of his dad. Whenever anyone discovered he was the son of Harold

Potter, they would tell him that he was a very lucky boy. James glowed whenever

his father was praised in his presence. Ever since James could remember he

wanted to be just like his dad. Anyone looking at Harold Potter could see where

his son got his looks from. Harold was a man of average height with a thin face

and a thin body. He too had dark hair which, although tidier then James's, was

not completely tame. His eyes were bright blue but unlike his son, he did not

need to wear glasses. When James got to the door, his father stole a look up

from his newspaper and saw his son standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Look Daisy, its one of Hogwarts newest recruits!" he cried

James's mother turned away from the cooker and looked at her son. Daisy Potter

was a very attractive lady with beautiful blonde curly hair that fell to her

shoulders. She had hazel eyes and boasted a lovely figure. James loved his

mother very much and would miss her most when he went to Hogwarts.

Morning dear, how are you today?"

"Fine" lied James

"Well sit down and I'll bring you your breakfast."

Mrs Potter handed James a large plate of bacon, eggs, sausages and toast all of

which were burnt. Mrs Potter was not the best cook. As James began to look on

his plate for something that was almost edible, Harold Potter put down his

newspaper and eyed his son curiously.

"Excited about your first day at school?" he asked

"Yes" replied James.

"Not nervous then?"

"No" replied James rather guiltily

"Well you're doing better then I did then. On my first day, I was a nervous

wreck!"

"Really?" said James looking up from his plate.

"Of course! It's ok to be nervous you know. It's a big thing going to school

for the first time. Meeting new friends, learning new things. Its all a bit

nerve wracking but you'll settle down soon enough and then you'll feel silly

that you were worrying about it in the first place"

"That's right" added Mrs Potter, now coming to sit at the table with her husband

and son. "We all get nervous; it's nothing to be ashamed of."

It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off James's shoulders. His dad had

been worried when he went to Hogwarts too. James's thoughts were interrupted by

his father speaking again

"I've taken the morning off work so I can come with you and your mother to the

station to see you off. We will be leaving about 9.30am as we will have to take

Muggle (non-magic people) transport to Kings Cross and from what the Misuse of

Muggle Artefacts department have told me, Muggle transport isn't always the most

reliable. Make sure you are ready to leave at 9.30am James ok?"

"Ok. Sorry mum, I can't eat anymore of this" said James as he pushed his plate

away from him. Mrs Potter smiled, whipped out her wand and made the plate float

through the air and dispose its contents into the rubbish bin which immediately

burped with approval. Both Mr Potter and James laughed at the bin's love for

Mrs Potter's food.

"Well at least something likes it!" said Mr Potter as he went back to his

newspaper.

James laughed again and left the kitchen to make sure he had packed everything

on the list he received with his letter of acceptance from Professor McGonagall.

This was an unnecessary task as James knew full well that he had packed

everything on that list at least two weeks ago but just to make sure he checked

it again. James rummaged through his trunk, found the letter and started to

tick off the stuff he had already packed.

_Uniform_

_Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_One Plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_One Winter Cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupils clothes should carry name tags_

_Books_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide of Self Protection by Quentin Trimble_

_Other Equipment_

_1 Wand_

_1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

Sure enough, all his spell books, robes, underwear and pictures were all in his

trunk. Next to it was his cauldron which was too big to fit into his trunk.

James then looked at the last sentence on the page

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

James longed for a pet of his own. He had neither an owl a rat nor a toad, his

mother would never let him have a pet in the house (Mrs Potter was very house

proud). Just as he had finished checking and re checking the list, he heard his

mother's voice call him. "James? James? Could you come downstairs please?"

He looked over at his clock; surely it wasn't 9.30am already? He was right, it

wasn't.

He hurried down the stairs and found his mother and father grinning as he

entered the kitchen. "Is everything ok?" he asked.

James's mum looked at him then at her husband. "Well! Are you going to give it

to him then?

Mr Potter beamed at his son "Me and your mother thought, with you being so far

away, that you might like to have your own owl." With this Mr Potter went out

into the garden and a few seconds later brought in a cage. In it sat the most

beautiful owl James had ever seen. It was a tawny owl with golden feathers all

over its body except on its face which was pure white. James stepped forward

and took the cage from his father and admired this truly beautiful creature.

"Do you like her?" asked Mrs Potter rather anxiously.

"I love her! Thank you so much!" replied James happily

"We haven't named her. We thought you would want to do that" said Mr Potter

still beaming.

"I think I will call her, Willow."

Willow hooted with what sounded like appreciation. "That settles it then,

Willow it is" said Mr Potter.

James spent the remainder of his time admiring his new owl in his bedroom. The

more he looked at her, the more beautiful she became. It wasn't until Mr Potter

knocked on James's door and told him that it was time for them to go, that James

began to think about his first day at school again. He slammed his trunk shut

and Mr Potter took out his wand and muttered _Locomotive trunk_ which lifted

James's trunk and made it float down the stairs. James carried Willow down the

stairs and had one last look around his house before he left. He was going to

miss this house but Hogwarts was his home now, so he picked up Willow's cage and

followed his parents out of the front door.

The trip to Kings Cross was quite uneventful except for the strange looks James

got carrying Willow. He could understand the curiosity of the Muggles. It must

seem strange for them to see a boy of eleven carrying an owl around in broad

daylight. Although James and his parents were wizards, the Potters lived in the

Muggle world. This was not unusual. There were not many purely wizarding

communities anymore. Hogsmeade was the only total wizarding village left.

Muggles tended to out number wizards and witches by quite a margin. Years ago,

many witches and wizards had to marry Muggles to avoid dying out. This meant

that wizards and muggles had to live together. The wizarding community, however

were very conscious of keeping their world a secret and would try to blend in

with the Muggles way of life as best they could. James had always known he came

from a family of wizards, (a pureblood family as it is sometimes called in the

Wizarding world) yet he was very familiar with Muggles. His parents chose to

send him to a Muggle primary school so that he would appreciate Muggles for whom

they were and not believe him to be above them like some wizards did. When he

and his parents arrived at Kings Cross, they had to find the entrance onto

Platform 9 ¾. James did not know where this gateway was and was busy looking

for signs telling him where the platform was, when his parents stopped in front

of a wall in between Platforms 9 and 10. Although James knew about the

wizarding world, he did not know everything about it. He did not know how he

was going to get onto Platform 9 ¾ (the platform the train to Hogwarts left

from). He looked at his parents rather blankly. "This is entrance onto

Platform 9 ¾" his mother replied to his confused expression. "You walk in

between platforms 9 and 10 and that takes you onto the platform for the train to

Hogwarts. James laughed. This was a solid wall. He had seen wizards apparate

and disaparate. He had even seen his own father's head in the kitchen fire, but

surely this wasn't going to work!

"But this wall is solid. How can I walk through a solid wall?"

Mr Potter smiled. "Things are not always what they seem!" and with this he

took his son's arm, looked around to make sure there were no Muggles near by and

walked with him towards the wall. At any second, James expected to hit his head

on the brick wall but instead he walked straight through it. The next thing

James knew he was standing on Platform 9 ¾ with all the other Hogwarts students

and their families milling around him and a scarlet train reading 'Hogwarts

Express' straight in front of him.

"Impressive isn't it?" said his mother who had just appeared at his side.

Impressive wasn't the word. James looked around him in total awe. This was

going to be the beginning of a great adventure.


End file.
